Statistical Analysis Of Environmental Space Time Processes

This book provides a broad introduction to the subject of environmental space-time processes, addressing the role of uncertainty. It covers a spectrum of technical matters from measurement to environmental epidemiology to risk assessment. It showcases non-stationary vector-valued processes, while treating stationarity as a special case. In particular, with members of their research group the authors developed within a hierarchical Bayesian framework, the new statistical approaches presented in the book for analyzing, modeling, and monitoring environmental spatio-temporal processes. Furthermore they indicate new directions for development.

Quantitative Analysis and Modeling of Earth and Environmental Data: Space-Time and Spacetime Data Considerations introduces the notion of chronotopologic data analysis that offers a systematic, quantitative analysis of multi-sourced data and provides information about the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of natural attributes (physical, biological, health, social). It includes models and techniques for handling data that may vary by space and/or time, and aims to improve understanding of the physical laws of change underlying the available numerical datasets, while taking into consideration the in-situ uncertainties and relevant measurement errors (conceptual, technical, computational). It considers the synthesis of scientific theory-based methods (stochastic modeling, modern geostatistics) and data-driven techniques (machine learning, artificial neural networks) so that their individual strengths are combined by acting symbiotically and complementing each other. The notions and methods presented in Quantitative Analysis and Modeling of Earth and Environmental Data: Space-Time and Spacetime Data Considerations cover a wide range of data in various forms and sources, including hard measurements, soft observations, secondary information and auxiliary variables (ground-level measurements, satellite observations, scientific instruments and records, protocols and surveys, empirical models and charts). Including real-world practical applications as well as practice exercises, this book is a comprehensive step-by-step tutorial of theory-based and data-driven techniques that will help students and researchers master data analysis and modeling in earth and environmental sciences (including environmental health and human exposure applications). Explores the analysis and processing of chronotopologic (i.e., space-time and spacetime) data that varies spatially and/or temporally, which is the case with the majority of data in scientific and engineering disciplines Studies the synthesis of scientific theory and empirical evidence (in its various forms) that offers a mathematically rigorous and physically meaningful assessment of real-world phenomena Covers a wide range of data describing a variety of attributes characterizing physical phenomena and systems including earth, ocean and atmospheric variables, environmental and ecological parameters, population health states, disease indicators, and social and economic characteristics Includes case studies and practice exercises at the end of each chapter for both real-world applications and deeper understanding of the concepts presented

A state-of-the-art presentation of optimum spatio-temporal sampling design - bridging classic ideas with modern statistical modeling concepts and the latest computational methods. Spatio-temporal Design presents a comprehensive state-of-the-art presentation combining both classical and modern treatments of network design and planning for spatial and spatio-temporal data acquisition. A common problem set is interwoven throughout the chapters, providing various perspectives to illustrate a complete insight to the problem at hand. Motivated by the high demand for statistical analysis of data that takes spatial and spatio-temporal information into account, this book incorporates ideas from the areas of time series, spatial statistics and stochastic processes, and combines them to discuss optimum spatio-temporal sampling design. Spatio-temporal Design: Advances in Efficient Data Acquisition: Provides an up-to-date account of how to collect space-time data for monitoring, with a focus on statistical aspects and the latest computational methods Discusses basic methods and distinguishes between design and model-based approaches to collecting space-time data. Features model-based frequentist design for univariate and multivariate geostatistics, and second-phase spatial sampling. Integrates common data examples and case studies throughout the book in order to demonstrate the different approaches and their integration. Includes real data sets, data generating mechanisms and simulation scenarios. Accompanied by a supporting website featuring R code. Spatio-temporal Design presents an excellent book for graduate level students as well as a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners in the fields of applied mathematics, engineering, and the environmental and health sciences.

This handbook focuses on the enormous literature applying statistical methodology and modelling to environmental and ecological processes. The 21st century statistics community has become increasingly interdisciplinary, bringing a large collection of modern tools to all areas of application in environmental processes. In addition, the environmental community has substantially increased its scope of data collection including observational data, satellite-derived data, and computer model output. The resultant impact in this latter community has been substantial; no longer are simple regression and analysis of variance methods adequate. The contribution of this handbook is to assemble a state-of-the-art view of this interface. Features: An internationally regarded editorial team. A distinguished collection of contributors. A thoroughly contemporary treatment of a substantial interdisciplinary interface. Written to engage both statisticians as well as quantitative environmental researchers. 34 chapters covering methodology, ecological processes, environmental exposure, and statistical methods in climate science.

It is increasingly clear that good quantitative work in the environmental sciences must be genuinely interdisciplinary. This volume, the proceedings of the first combined TIES/SPRUCE conference held at the University of Sheffield in September 2000, well demonstrates the truth of this assertion, highlighting the successful use of both statistics and mathematics in important practical problems. It brings together distinguished scientists and engineers to present the most up-to-date and practical methods for quantitative measurement and prediction and is organised around four themes: - spatial and temporal models and methods; - environmental sampling and standards; - atmosphere and ocean; - risk and uncertainty. Quantitative Methods for Current Environmental Issues is an invaluable resource for statisticians, applied mathematicians and researchers working on environmental problems, and for those in government agencies and research institutes involved in the analysis of environmental issues.

This book discusses a broad range of statistical design and analysis methods that are particularly well suited to pollution data. It explains key statistical techniques in easy-to-comprehend terms and uses practical examples, exercises, and case studies to illustrate procedures. Dr. Gilbert begins by discussing a space-time framework for sampling pollutants. He then shows how to use statistical sample survey methods to estimate average and total amounts of pollutants in the environment, and how to determine the number of field samples and measurements to collect for this purpose. Then a broad range of statistical analysis methods are described and illustrated. These include: * determining the number of samples needed to find hot spots * analyzing pollution data that are lognormally distributed * testing for trends over time or space * estimating the magnitude of trends * comparing pollution data from two or more populations New areas discussed in this sourcebook include statistical techniques for data that are correlated, reported as less than the measurement detection limit, or obtained from field-composited samples. Nonparametric statistical analysis methods are emphasized since parametric procedures are often not appropriate for pollution data. This book also provides an illustrated comprehensive computer code for nonparametric trend detection and estimation analyses as well as nineteen statistical tables to permit easy application of the discussed statistical techniques. In addition, many publications are cited that deal with the design of pollution studies and the statistical analysis of pollution data. This sourcebook will be a useful tool for applied statisticians, ecologists, radioecologists, hydrologists, biologists, environmental engineers, and other professionals who deal with the collection, analysis, and interpretation of pollution in air, water, and soil.

This book is intended for students and practitioners who have had a calculus-based statistics course and who have an interest in safety considerations such as reliability, strength, and duration-of-load or service life. Many persons studying statistical science will be employed professionally where the problems encountered are obscure, what should be analyzed is not clear, the appropriate assumptions are equivocal, and data are scant. In this book there is no disclosure with many of the data sets what type of investigation should be made or what assumptions are to be used.

This book covers recent developments in correlated data analysis. It utilizes the class of dispersion models as marginal components in the formulation of joint models for correlated data. This enables the book to cover a broader range of data types than the traditional generalized linear models. The reader is provided with a systematic treatment for the topic of estimating functions, and both generalized estimating equations (GEE) and quadratic inference functions (QIF) are studied as special cases. In addition to the discussions on marginal models and mixed-effects models, this book covers new topics on joint regression analysis based on Gaussian copulas.